2 Qaddafi Children May Have Violated U.N. Travel Ban

Two children of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the longtime Libyan leader felled in the 2011 revolution, appear to have violated a travel ban imposed by the United Nations by moving to Oman from Algeria earlier this year, the chairman of a Security Council sanctions committee said on Tuesday.

The chairman, Ambassador Eugène-Richard Gasana of Rwanda, said the Algerian government had confirmed to the committee on June 5 that the children — a daughter, Aisha, and a son, Mohammed — were among the members of Colonel Qaddafi’s family who had relocated to Oman after having spent nearly two years in Algeria. They had fled to Algeria as rebels strengthened their grip on Tripoli in the weeks before Colonel Qaddafi was caught and killed.

Aisha, a lawyer, and Mohammed, who once led Libya’s Olympics program, are subject to an asset freeze and travel prohibition under sanctions administered by the United Nations. Mr. Gasana said he had ordered his committee’s “panel of experts to investigate the matter.”

Members of the Qaddafi family were known to be unhappy in Algeria, and local news reports there suggested that Aisha in particular had worn out her welcome. She raged at the news that her father had been killed in October 2011, and from the safety of Algeria she publicly called on Libyans to rise up against his enemies.

Another Qaddafi son, Seif al-Islam, has been incarcerated in Libya since November 2011. The Libyan government has resisted extradition requests by the International Criminal Court, which has charged him with crimes against humanity.

Mr. Gasana spoke at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Libya, where an effort to transition to a democratic civilian government after the four-decade Qaddafi era has been riddled with problems. Powerful militias that helped topple him have not accepted the authority of the transitional government.

Tarek Mitri, the special representative of the United Nations for Libya, told the Council that the slow pace of transition was understandable. “The political and security challenges that now face the country may well be the legacy of decades of authoritarian rule, dysfunctional state institutions and confusion around political norms,” Mr. Mitri said.